Refrigerator



' INVENTOR. ,Dad/9 obe fii D. yROBERTS REFRIGERATOR Filed Oct. 14, 1935 ATTORNEY.

lyfraneiatq,1939 n *t l 2,145,892

UNl'rrg-:D As'r-A'les PATENT OFFICE l' y y 2,145,892 e BEFBIGEBATOB Application 'october 14, 1935, Vserial No. 44,301;A

` s claims. (o1. sz-ss) This invention relates to refrigerators iny genmay be readily molded into any desired form or eral, and more particularly vto a refrigerator shape forms the basis of a cheap, efficient home construction useful in homes. i refrigerator according to my invention. I prof The vconventional yhome refrigerator, whether yvide a novel internal circulation system to use to v 'n @cooled by ice orl through gas or electricity. is debest advantage a central cooling means.

l signed with one large interior compartment hav- Accordingly. an object of my invention is to ingia variety of horizontal shelving and grating, provide a refrigerator having novel independent and with a. large vertical door. Swinging this storage compartments. dooropen and shut during use causes a mirgling Another object of my invention is to provide a 'le' ofthe internalcold air with the external warmer refrigerator havin?,r novel independent storage l0 air, causing a loss of vrefrigeration energy. Whencompartments that are slidably mounted.

ever food-stuff is placed into orv-takenfrom such Still another object of my invention iS to lirorefrigerators the door must beopened resulting in vide a refrigerator having novel independent j an eillux of cold air. items placed in the rear of storage compartments that are of molded conlls such a' unit are not readily accessible. struction. 15 1 Several improvements have been recently made A further Object 0f my invention is to provide f "to minimize [these disadvantages. For example, a refrigerator With novel independent slidable ran extra door is provided between the outside door storage compartments, having a Central cooling and the interior chamber, having shelving thereunit and a Prearranged internal aircirculation. on to store small frequently used food articles, so .Still a further object of Inv invention is to pro- 20 w vas to keep the interior insulated from the outside vide a refrigerator having novel independent Story when handling them. Another improvement is to age compartments that are Slidably mounted,

vmake the interior shelving Aslidable so that rapid Which is Suitable for home use. accessibility to articles placed in the rear is had. Another object of my invention is to provide a 25'-Howeverin all cases, when one must get to an refrigeratorwith novel slidable molded storage 25 item, in the interior of such refrigerators the compartments arranged With a circulation System cold air inside is mixediwith outside warm air. within these compartments so as to make un- Arefrigerator according to my invention gomnecessary a thermally insulated enclosing strucy prisesa plurality of slidable individual compartture. y ments or drawers wherein items are arranged and There are other objects of my invention Which 30 o arereadily accessible, communicating to ay com- Will become evident in the following description ymon interior cooling system. This refrigerator is in connection With the drawing, in Which: particularly adaptable for homefus'e, and is ar- Figure 1 is a partial sectional view of a refrig- I 1 ranged somewhat similarly to a iillng cabinet.y erator according to my invention. ,'Iv'h'e compartments may be of various size or in- Figilre 2 is the section 2-*2 through Figure 1. 35 ternal structure, but are `essentially horizontally Referring noW more Specifically to the drawing, disposed units. Thus, only one section of the rein Figure 1 I have shown a refrigerator which frigerator is operated at one time instead of com.. provides for the circulation of cooled air in such municating to the whole interior the external ata manner that Separate drawers may be opened 40 mosphere A further important advantage is that Without impeding the circulation and Without di- 40 the vcold air, which is heavier than the external minishing the eiiioienov of the refrigerating unit. warm air tends to remain contained in the drawer In a refrigerator With the top Wall Il and a rear compartment, and very little inux of external Wall I8 are disposed drawers Ila, IIb and I Ic warm air takes place. having handles I2 on the face 24 thereof. The other systems of individual slidable compartfront of the drawer is Composed of insulation ma- 45 ment refrigerators have been devised, but they terial 25 With a metal channel facing 34. At the i are unnecessarily bulky, and are only suitable top'of the refrigerator is a cooling unit I5 having for large commercial units, havingample refrigice tray I6 therein. e v.eration means. These systems are not adaptable The top drawer Ila has a rear Wall 36' that is fo`r relatively small refrigerators for private homel foreshortened to Pass under the vcooling unit I5 50 use, since theirrconstruction, particularly of the when opened to the position as shown dotted in compartments, is relatively expensive, and the Figure 1. 'I'his wall 36. may also have slots 31 to internal circulation circuit is not emcient for a facilitate passage therethrough of the colder air small central cooling unit. v which circulates past the cooling unit I5. This '551' A compartment or drawer construction which colder air passes around this rear wall 36' into 55 the rear channel 30 in the refrigerator, down across the channel 38 along the bottoni of the structure and up through the front opening 39 of the bottom drawer Hc formed by the front and a baille 40 of the compartment as shown. 'This baille 40 does not extend the full height oi.' the drawer so that the circulation continues around it into the drawer interior.

A baille member 4I is placed between the respective compartments which does not extend the whole length of the drawer as shown. An opening remains over the rear of the drawer so that the circulation circuitV continues on upwards. If a drawer is opened -such as is lib the circulation passes around it and continues through the channel 42 formed between the bafile 4| and drawer bottom 26, up through the front opening 39 of drawer Il, into the compartment, and out again as hereinbefore through the rear top, through another channel 42 and up to the cooling unit I5 to complete the circuit. A baille wall 43 formsthe channel 30 with the rear wall I8 of the refrigerator. The channels 30, 38 and 42 extend acrossy the whole width of the interior. The openingsv 39 in the compartments Il are as wide as the drawers, as Figure 2 illustrates.

This modification will have a uniform cooling effect between the respective compartments. The novel arrangement illustrated practically isolates a compartment when it is opened up.

As seen in Figure- 1, drawer IIb is open, and the rear wall 36, reaching up to the baffle member 4| substantially shuts oi any of the possible ycirculation or refrigeration elciency. A roller and track assembly 3l may also be used for the drawers having a closing detent as hereinabove..

It is understood that my invention is not limited to the specific structures and designs as shown in the drawing, and that many modications and variations in the shape and form as well as the arrangements differing from the illustrated embodiments are possible within the broader scope and spirit of my invention. For example, one refrigerator may have several sizes of drawers or compartments; a larger construction may be employed for commercial units, such as for hotel use; brine piping may be employed along the rear wall to communicate cold air dlrectly to the individual compartments instead of using a central cooling unit; the drawers may have holes in the bottom for air circulation therethrough; other air circuit relations to cause continuous internal circulation may be designedi/'N 1. A refrigerator comprising in combination a casing comprising insulating material, a plurality of slidable drawers normally arranged in `yspaced apart parallel relation in said casing, a

baille wall spaced from the rear wall of said casing and positioned to form an abutment to be engaged by the rear walls of said drawers, and parallel baille members extending inwardly from the front wall of the casing to define compart ments for receiving said drawers.

2. A refrigerator comprising in combination a casing comprising insulating material, a plurality of slidable drawers normally arranged in spaced apart parallel relation in said casing, a baille wall spaced from the rear'wall of said casing and positioned to form an abutment to be engaged by the rear walls of said drawers, and parallel baille members extending inwardly from the front wall ofthe casing to dene compartments for receiving said drawers, said drawers being constructed and arranged to cooperate with the baille wall and baille members to form a circuit of connected passages for directing a temperature controlling medium along the rear and bottom walls of the casing and then successively through each drawer and along the associated baille member into the next drawer in the series.

3. A refrigerator comprising in combination a casing comprisingA insulating material, a plurality of slidable drawers normally arranged in spaced apart relation in said casing, a baille wall spaced from the wall of said casing, and parallel baille members extending inwardly from the front wall of the casing to dene compartments for receiving said drawers, said drawers being constructed then successively through each drawer and along the associated baille member into the next drawer in the series.

DUDLEY ROBERTS. 

